A weekly re-cap of the events that have made news in Cairns over the past week.

Monday November 26, 2001 42nd Edition

The Christmas spirit has started to build momentum in the last week as all of the major shopping centres and prominent city buildings have put up their decorations. Visitors to Cairns often find it strange to be celebrating Christmas in the hot, humid climate, especially if they are used to Christmas at home with lots of snow. As a result many American and European tourists enjoy taking photographs in front of Christmas trees in only a t-shirt and shorts. For the locals, it is a time of year when we all look forward to the cooling rains to start, normally in January.

Demand for Cairns housing seen as a positive sign
According to a recently released report, "Queensland Living, Housing Trends for 2001", the far north Queensland region is expected to be one of the fastest growing populations centres in Australia. The Cairns population is expected to grow from 130,000 now to 320,000 in the next 20 years. Based on this growth rate the report recommended that extra 8500 new homes would be required in and around Cairns in the next five years. The report has added weight to a general feeling from developers that economic conditions are steadily improving in north Queensland.

Bill Clinton tipped to be visiting North Queensland again
In what is becoming a regular occurrence, Bill Clinton is rumoured to be planning a return visit to Port Douglas next March. Mr Clinton's last visit wast cut short as it coincided with the terrorist bombing on the 11th of September. Mr Clinton generally combined charity functions with his holidays to Australia.

Wind Farm a success
Australia's largest wind farm, located near Ravenshoe (west of Cairns) has been declared a success with strong performance during its first year of operation. The farm has 20 turbines, capable of generating 12mW of electricity. According to the company's Northern Business Manager, Ken Jack, favourable conditions resulted in the farm recording above budget availability for the majority of the year. The Herberton Shire Council has approved phase two of the project with a further 22 turbines set to be erected in June 2002.

Cairns first Steiner school opens
Last Saturday, 24th of November, the first Rudolph Steiner School opened in Cairns. The Steiner Schools are famous throughout the world for their innovative teaching practises that encourage creativity from both teachers and students. Class sizes are capped 15 and they are held in brightly coloured rooms, filled with timber chairs and desks crafted by school parents. "The environment has to be a beautiful environment that the teachers and students want to come into at the start of the day," said Ms Chambers, a representative from Steiner Schools.

$9 million redevelopment planned for Fitzroy Island
A multi-million redevelopment of Fitzroy Island (off the coast of Cairns) is expected to provide a holiday destination to compete with similar resorts in the Whitsunday Islands. The company behind the ambitious project is Raging Thunder, the leading adventure tour operator in Australia. Raging Thunder currently manages the resort, predominantly as backpacker resort. The project is expecting to get underway in March 2002.

Local paper begins celebrations for its 120th birthday
The Cairns post has been the local paper in Cairns for a very long time. Next year the company celebrates 120 years of providing news for the local residents in the region. When the Cairns Post first started, Cairns was literally a tent town set up on the banks of a crocodile and mosquito-infected marshland. It services the gold producing regions further north and on the Atherton Tablelands, slowly becoming more important as the main access port for the region. The Cairns Post kept the City informed through many good and not so good periods including World War 1, World War 2, the Korean War, Vietnam, Gulf War and now the War against terrorism.

Taipans get gored by Razorbacks
The West Sydney Razorbacks soundly beat the Cairns Taipans on Friday night. The final score was 100 - 90, with the Razorbacks looking firmly in control at all times. Whilst statistically the Taipans appeared to play a better game, the final score left coach Guy Molloy at a loss for words.